Hard day,last day.

Not a hard day at work. Just that today is/was the day to put down Maggie and Sage. The hard part started last night.

It was the last time that I will come home in the dark to them and hear them calling for me letting me know that it's been hours, over 1000 hours since they have been feed last, and hurry up woman, give us grain NOW!

This morning, while I was in the kitchen getting my lunch ready, they were calling me. The morning call is different as they can tell I'm in the house. It's more of a "hurry up grain lady with the bad morning hair and feed us, it's been 10 hours since we had grain, we are starving!"

While milking Maggie this morning I started crying. I felt like such a traitor, here I am milking her, giving her treats knowing that she doesn't have much longer. Maggie was the first goat that I ever really milked, and it was Maggie's first time to be milked. We both learned a lot. It went from dreading to milking her to laying my head against her flank and listening to her while milking. I would try and warm my hand up as she did not like icy cold hands on her teats. Not that I can blame her!

Even though I know it's the right thing to do, it doesn't make it any easier.

Monday, Monday.

Slow day for me. I did some yard work this morning and stopped after a few hours as the pesky bugs were getting really pesky. I then took a two hour nap. I think that I'm a little depressed about the goats and sleeping is a way to avoid thinking about them.

I then got up and did the rest of the yard work. I had six wheel barrows of spoiled straw/hay to add to the compost pile. A really large tarp that needed to be hosed off and then spread out to dry. I also had a indoor rug/runner that I had to wash. Somehow I dragged in chicken poop on the rug and it was stinky.

With all the rain and heat, my potted flowers were down right dead and ugly so I put them away for winter. I also cleaned up the garage and made it neat and tidy. It won't last long but it feels good to look at a neat and tidy garage.

While I was doing all this work I had the goats out, and they were "helping" me by stepping on the tarp while I'm trying to move it. Getting in front of the wheel barrow and then standing on the compost pile and knocking it around so then I had to tidy that back up.

Because you know what is going to happen in a few days I no longer have Maggie on a diet. I have been giving them their treat several times a day. Being that they were out and about today they kept trying to get into the house to get to the carrot chips. Yep, that means I have goat berries on the back porch.

That's about it. I have school tomorrow so I need to go to bed so I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed first thing in the morning.

Now I'm sad.

I got the test back for Maggie ( The other goat) and looks like she is also positive for Johne's. She has been losing weight but I was hoping that it was cause I have been cutting back on the grain as I'm drying her up.

What this means is that I will have to put her down and I will also put down Sage, the baby goat that is almost five months old. Sage had a 25% chance of having it due to her mom Juju having it, now with Maggie testing positive it's up in the 90% range that she also has it, just that she is to young to test. Sage is also to young to shed (it's not in the poop yet) Johne's

I won't have goats this winter and maybe not till spring of 2012. The ground will need to sit for one year. I could probably get goats in the fall time, but why mess with goats in the winter? I will just wait until spring. This way the ground will have plenty of time to do it's thing.

I still have plenty of milk set aside for soap making and if I need more next summer I know other people that have milk goats.

I will not be getting my goats from the same person that I got these ones from. I think that she has an epidemic on her land and that she is burying her head in the sand and not addressing it. (IMHO)

While I am sad by this news, I was prepared for it to be bad so I'm not surprised by it.

It's done.

Juju, she was a good goat.

Again with the goats.

Because I'm dealing with such a serious goat issue this is what I think about, talk about, and blog about. Hopefully somebody might read this an learn and not have to go through what I am having too.

I spoke with the State of Wisconsin Agriculture Disease Control Program.

Plan A.

Test the soil on a different place on my land (We will call this new pasture "A" ) if that test comes back negative build a new pasture and housing. (I let the goat free range so they might have infected all over my place) Let the old pasture and housing sit for one year. (Old pasture will be called "B")

While the the goats are on the pasture "A" test Maggie for Johne's. The three kids are too young to test. (The bacteria wont show on a test even if they have it. The state says that they need to be 18 months old for the test.) If Maggie is positive, cull her. If negative, let them all stay on pasture "A" for one year.

After a year, test soil on pasture "B". Test all the goats (The kids will be 18 months old by then)
If all negative, move them to pasture "B". If any goat test positive, cull that goat.

After another year goes by, test pasture "A". If soil test negative and goats also test negative
move the goats back to pasture "A". If goats test positive, cull that goat. I also should have pasture "C" ready just in case a soil sample comes back negative.

Let pasture "B" rest for a year. Test the soil, test the goats. If all negative, move them on pasture "B" and you are considered Johne's free after three years of negative testing.

During those three years, do not breed the goats. Do not let the goats off my land. Do not let any ruminate type animal on my land.

If at any time a goat test positive, you have to cull that goat and start a three year count again.

This is three years of testing and spending money. I got the goats so that I would have goat milk for soap making. I would need to buy my milk for three years. When it comes right down to it. I don't have the money or resources to do the three year plan. But, at the same time. It is really hard to make the decision to put down goats that may not have Johne's and that act and look with robust health. Beside, yes, I have made my goats my pets. I have great affection for them. I don't want to put them down.

Johne's is bad bad bad. Many goat owners have goats that have just wasted away and it gets blamed on a really bad case of worms when in fact it could have been Johne's. All the other goats that were exposed to it might have it and not show any signs of it for two years.. They get sold and expose the new herd to it.

Some ways to prevent it. Don't buy goats from animal auctions, animals swaps or anything like that.
Only get goats from a goat herd that is aware and has tested and is Johne's free and keeps a closed herd. Closed herd means that they do not let any new animal come onto their land without knowing 100% sure that they are Johne's free and also keep that goat in quarantine while they run a fecal test that takes six weeks. They keep their own bucks for breeding or they AI the does.

Plan B. Put all the goats down now and wait for a year and test the soil. If negative, get goats that have been tested and are free of Johne's and keep a closed herd from that point on.

When I talk to my friend Kellie I get all teary and then she gets teary. At times like this I wish I had a husband and just let him make the call and I take no part of it! It is very hard to make a decision.

Plan C. Put all the goats down, next year sell my place and rent a house in town for cheap, buy goat milk,make soap and keep my part time job at the library and still go to school part time. And not ever have to worry about Johne's again.

Juju update

It's not good news. I just got off the phone with the Vet. The blood test came back positive for Johnes. There is no cure. What happens is that there is a bacteria in gut and the goat is unable to get nutrients from the food. It also cause the appetite to diminish. Long story short, they starve to death.

The vet did tell me that the goat lady has had a positive case of Johnes with her herd, and that Juju came to me with it and with the stress of pregnancy, the bacteria was able to thrive and grow.

I made arrangements to have Juju put down on Monday. The vet will come and do that and then also take her away. I could bury her here on my land but I don't think that I can dig a hole big enough nor deep enough.

I will also now test Maggie to see if she has it. This will be a stool test. They will grow it out and also do a DNA bacteria test. If she comes back positive then I will have to put her down. If it comes back negative then I will re-test her next year. And not breed her.

The three kids. They are too young to test at this time. The bacteria needs time to do it's thing. Good news, they can't "shed" the bacteria until they at at 11 months of age. I will get the two back from my friend Kellie and come spring I will test them to see if they have it. The one kid, Basil (Root beer is his new name) and Sage have 25% chance of having caught it in utero.

The other option is to put all of them down (Maggie and the kids) without testing and let the land sit for one year as it takes that long for the bacteria to go through it's cycle.

Right now I'm very sad and discouraged. I know it's not this way but I feel that I am having really bad luck with animals. I had to put my cat down a few months ago and now my goat. And maybe more of my goats.

Juju update

One of the three blood test came back. It came back negative. This was the test for CAEV. Which stands for Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis virus. Still waiting for two more test results to come back.

No change in Juju. She does seem to be eating better, but then sometimes she shows no interest in food after a few bites. She always like to eat fresh browse. But I think that she (all of us) is getting tired of the high heat and humidity. We all want to just sit still and not move.

I got the results via the mail so tomorrow I will call up the vet and talk to him about Juju, maybe I should do a Nurti Drench on her? Maybe that would pick up her appetite?

I sill have not seen her poop! Pee, yes, poop no! I think she knows that I'm watching her and is being "shy" on purpose!

Also, looks like my sister will be here tomorrow morning! Flights are looking good right now. She ended up going to Fairbanks to get a flight to the Twin Cities. Those flight have more seats available.
If I don't hear from her by 2am (My time) I will pick her up at 6.15am at the airport.

I better go put the critters to bed, we are starting to have some big boom booms and lighting, gonna rain soon.

Farm Update.

This is what happens when you don't shut the front door.

Visitors that may poop and pee on your floor. These two did NOT

do that. They were good guest.

Henny Penny out with her babies.

Showing them how to scratch and eat.

Teaching them how to get in and out of the hen house.

I ended up putting a 2x4 on the ground next to the wall as one of the chicks

could not jump up. I had been picking it up to go in and out. I also put

a 2x4 inside. That was all the little guy needed.

No word yet on the blood test for Juju. It will be a few more days. No real change in her.

I wish I had a scale that I could put her on to see if she is gaining or losing weight.

Worries, part two

The vet came out today to check out Juju, my very thin goat that I'm worried about. He agrees that she is too thin.

He gave her the going over. Clear lungs, eyes look good, temp is normal. He listened to her rumen (Gut) and said that it sounds good, normal sounds. He then looked in her mouth, looks good, no sores, teeth look good.

He agreed that it was odd that she was so thin and Maggie is a tad bit over weight. Juju got a broad spectrum de-wormer and also she got a antibiotics shot, that I will have to follow up with two more of them. (Friday and Sunday)

Juju then peed on the garage floor so we got a urine sample and I ran that into the vets office. No diabetes, and no bladder infection. He also drew blood and that will be sent in. He's going to test for
Johne's (Yoh-nees) disease. If that comes back negative then we will re-test her again in a few weeks. He says that false negatives are common. The test only cost 25 bucks. Diarrhea and weight loss are the two signs of this disease, Juju has not have any diarrhea at all. He doesn't think that she has it but he wants to rule it out. Most likely Juju has a bad case of worms and with nursing she became stressed (First time mom and all) and that lowered her resistance to worms and now the worms are keeping her from nutrients.

Some of the reason why he thinks that it is NOT Johne's is that there have not been animals on this land for a long time, if ever. The goat lady that I got Juju and Maggie from has not had a case of Johne's and I have the goats on a bunch of land so that there is no over-crowding.

I talked to the feed store. The grain mix that I get from them does not have copper in it. So maybe Juju is lacking some of that. But then why is Maggie overweight? She eats the same as Juju does. But I went ahead and got 50lbs mineral supplement that is made for ruminants (But not sheep, sheep can't have copper)

I am really hoping that it in not Johne's disease. There is no cure. It's kind of like Crohne's in people.

Update on my sister. She did not make the flight, they are trying again tonight. If they miss that then they will visit me some other time.

Worries.

I will try and get a picture to show you what I'm talking about. I am worried about my goat Juju. She is the one that had the two babies, she nursed one and I fed the other one. What I'm worried about is that I feel that she is to skinny. She eats her grain, but she does not eat it like Maggie does (Maggie scarfs her grain) and after about three minutes or so she stops eating grain. She eats lots of browse and hay. I have free choice alfalfa hay and also sweet grass hay available at all times.

I am trying to catch her in the act so I can take a stool sample in to see if she is loaded with worms. The grain that I feed them is a mix that the goat lady gave the feed store. It has minerals and all that stuff that goats need. But I wonder if I need to give the minerals as a free choice also? The minerals I'm talking about is mostly copper.

Juju did have a very dry coat but I noticed that it is going away. The baby still nurses, not a lot, but I do catch her doing it. When she tries, Juju will let her feed for about 10 seconds and then pulls away.
Some of my worry might be that Juju was a chubby goat when I got her and I'm not used to her being thin. The goat lady said that the girls would drop weight if the kids nursed. Maggie did not feed her babies, and she is now plump, where she used to be thin.

I will wait and see what the poop report is before I make any changes.

Oh, it's not like she dropped weight fast. Just that after she had the kids she was then thin and has stayed thin. I wonder if the heat that we have been having is causing her some stress? They have plenty of cool fresh water to drink.

Book Review plus

I'm reading a series of books called the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. They are of the SciFI genre. I finished book nine and am about to start book 10. But I have other books to read too.

I am now reading Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich. Hate to say it, but I am board out of my mind with book 16. The people in this series do not change. They have no growth. They do not learn from mistakes.

Stephine Plum, still does not know if she loves Morelli or Ranger.
Lulu, still on a diet and still eating doughnuts and wanting Cluck in a bucket chicken.
Grandma Mazur, still being the "pip" that she is.
Cars are still being smashed up, buildings are still being burned down.

It's almost like the same sentence are being used from books 1 though 15. I'm on page 157 and I'm going to keep on reading it, even if it makes me fall asleep!

The Dresden files, the main guy is Harry, time has passed in the books. Harry has loved and lost. Close friends have died and he has been betrayed and had learned to forgive. He is evolving and some in a good way, some not so good. but it is still change.

I read Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland. I think that this was book two and I did not know that. I have a issues about reading books out of order. I can't knowingly do that. It was a excellent book. I would recommend it to all. The book is set in Australia and the main character is half Aborigine and White.

Now the "plus" part

Sorry, you might have thought that it was going to be an exciting announcement but it's not.
I just trimmed my goats hooves this afternoon. I also got Juju up on the stand to do it! She tired to go noodle on me but I got her up there. I spent about 10 minutes scratching her and calming her down. She started to nibble on her grain so I then picked up her foot and started to trim. Good thing she was only on three feet, she would have loved to have jumped off, but hard to do with one foot in the air with a hand holding it firm!

I got all eight feet trimmed. I did trim one hoof to close and I had a spot of blood well up. I put iodine on it. I will have to watch that foot now to make sure that no infection gets in. One thing good about my land, it is real sandy so I have no standing water and its dry out in the yard. I was sweating so bad that I had to stop as my eyes were burning and I could not see. Glad that that chore is over with. I need to do it more often, but it's not really a fun thing to do.

Farmers Market.

It was slow today. The vendors on the left and right of me remarked on how slow it was for them. I did sell some soap but not like I did last week, but that's OK. Any soap sold is good.

Today was a good day to watch people. I noticed that there were lots of bra-less women that should have worn a bra. I'm sorry but it's hard not to watch when you see double K's coming at you! You almost feel obligated to shout a warning to bystanders that there is a clear and present danger in our midst.

The vendor to my right sells a olive salsa, it's very tasty. When you hear salsa, do you think that just maybe, there might be onions in it? And if you're allergic to onions that you would ask the person giving out samples if there might be onions in it? Not jump up and down going "oh! oh! oh! That's what one lady did today. I wanted to smack her for being stupid.

Here are some pictures of the family

This is Abby, she wants some of my cookie and she was so cute that she got a little bit.

Here are the sick cats on my side of the bed. Harvey, (Black cat) the one that's dizzy, is being a pest. He wants to be held and in my face.

One of my broody hens. She has the devil in her.

Here is Sage. She likes to jump on me and use me as a spring board to do a little flip. I smack her when I catch her doing this. Jumping on people will not be cute as she gets bigger. She did not get smacked this time as I was trying to take her picture.

Juju with the yellow collar and Maggie in front.

Maggie gave me a scare this afternoon. I was reading inside the house and then I wanted to read outside so I went to go get the girls. Juju and Sage got up and maa, maaed me as I came to the gate. Maggie was off laying in a corner and did NOT GET UP! I quick open the gate and run to her and touched her and called her name. She yawned, I went to grab her by her collar to make her get up but she just hopped up on her own, went and butted Sage, butted Juju, peed and pooped and went out the gate and started to eat. I think that she was just napping hard in the sunshine as it had been raining early and she was soaking up the warmth so she did not hear me. But I will still keep my eye on her just to make sure.

Bye Bye

I had to say bye to my two baby goats tonight. My friend Kellie (and her family) came over for dinner and when they left they took Basil and Nutmeg with them. I was actually a little bit sad to see them go. I didn't realize that I had grown to care for them that much.

I also gave Kellie some goat milk and the bottles. They have not had milk for the past 3 days and I think that if Kellie and the kids bottle feed them a few times, the babies will settle down quicker. Kellie is only going to give them a cup each so it's more of a comfort thing, not really a food thing.

When they got home with the babies, Kellie called me up to let me know that Basil cried (screamed) all the way to her house. LOUD! Better them then me!

I had a good day at the Farmers Market. It was my second best day. Sold 19 bars of soap. Down side, that singing lady was there. I was about ready to ram some parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme down her throat!

I also saw something today at the market that will forever be burned in my mind. A man was there, wearing bike shorts, no underwear. Let's just say that I know more about him then I wanted to know! Why dear God? Why?! Did you ever see the movie Something About Mary? Remember the scene were the zipper gets stuck and the dad ask "Is it the beans and franks or just the frank?" That's what was going through my mind while the guy was in front of me talking to a friend. (Yes, in front, facing me)

Cured!

The goat lady (Who I got my goats from) and her family went South for the long weekend. She asked me if I could take care of her goats. I said sure. She has helped me out a lot.

I did chores with her a few times and I could not milk her goats! My goat has a small bag and easy to milk (We got it all figured out) Her goats have basket ball size udders and teats that are like leather.

I was worried, she said not to worry, as long as I toss them food and make sure they have water they goats can miss four milking. Well, before she left I tried again, and I was able to milk! It takes me awhile and I'm popping Advil and my hand swell up at night, but that's cause I'm not used to it. One of the goats is a real pain to milk. Big bag, long teat, small opening and to big to get on the stand, I have to kneel at her side. She liked to put her foot in the milk pail and smack my face with her tail!

But besides milking the four goats I have to:

Bottle feed four baby goats
Feed two bucks
Feed 15 does
Feed 10 geese/ducks
Feed 20 rabbits
Feed 2 chinchillas
Feed 2 pigs
Feed 3 sheep
Feed the barn cats
Feed about 10 adult goats

When I say feed, I also have to make sure that they all have water too. It takes me about an hour and a half to do all this. This has cured me of wanting any more animals! Tonight the pigs knocked over the big water tank so I had to fill that up, I got sprayed pretty good with the water. I smelled like a goat when I got home so I took another shower.



Oh, shy guy asked me to take a road trip with him on Sunday. So I'm skipping church and going with him. We are going to little Norway? It's about a 3 hour drive south of us. It will be an all day thing.

Weaning the babies.

The babies were getting three bottles a day. Then two weeks ago I started to skip the midday feeding. They were starting to eat what the big goats eat. About a week ago, on the last bottle of the day, I started to put less and less in the bottle, but still giving them their full bottle in the morning.

Tonight, I will skip the evening bottle. They are not going to like that! They are eating hay, grain, grass,weeds, leaves, twigs and all kinds of yummies in the yard. The evening bottle was no longer giving them much food, more of a habit/comfort thing.

Tomorrow morning, the bottle will have just a little bit less in it. I need them weaned as two of them (Nutmeg and Basil) are going to their new home July 10th.

My goats (Just like the rest of my pets) are very spoiled. Usually I take them for a walk two times a day. By walk I mean I take them to new spots around the property and they get the chow down for about an hour while I sit and watch them and read. Right now they are going to town on some blackberry bramble. It's sweet, but also annoying, when I got outside they run to the gate, hoping that I come over to them, and most often I do. I give them pets and carrot chip treats.

It's hot, hot, hot!

Was 94 at the house when I got home this evening at 6.30pm. It's almost 10pm, I have a fan on me and I have rivulets of "glow" on my face. (Horses sweat, men perspire and women glow) I need to clean out the goat pen but, sorry goats, no can do. Too hot. I did put down some fresh bedding for them.


How I got the freezer down to the basement. I pushed it off the truck onto the porch. I have a long rug and I had that down so the freezer was on that. I was able to then slide the freeze into the house past the door down to the basement. I stood on the top step and caddywhompused the freezer into the doorway. Very carefully, I pulled it over the edge, then gravity started to pull it down the stairs while I was in front, holding it back so it would not crash down the stairs. And voila, it was in the basement. It maybe weighed 200lbs? Not that heavy.


I was pretty cranky at all my animals today.

Abby, she has been barking in bed at night waking me up as maybe, just maybe, there might be an axe murder coming to axe me. This has been going on now for two nights.

The cats. The other night, I had a leg sticking out from under the covers as I was hot and I was woken up because Wilbur (Who used to be Willow) was licking my leg, What?! Stop licking my leg you dumb cat! Okay, he stopped, he then got all four paws/claws dug into my lower leg and started to bite my bony shin bone! Oops, maybe I just kicked a cat?

The baby goats. Yes, they are cute, but they are becoming pest! They follow me around, right in front of my path and I'm stepping on them and tripping over them trying not to step on them! Then when I give them their bottle, they are so eager to eat that they bump the bottle so hard that milk goes spraying and the bottles get knocked out of my hand. All the while they are making cute little grunting sounds. (Okay, so the cute factor makes up for a lot) But when you're in a hurry it's not cute.

Maggie and I are getting along. She no longer tries to avoid capture when I milk her. For a short time I was chasing her. I have found out that goats really need a routine. I have been sticking with a morning routine for over a week. Maggie will almost go from the stall to jumping on the stand all on her own. Soon I think that she will. She no longer tries to back out of the head brace thing.

JuJu, she is very itchy right now. She would rather I give her good scratch then eat all her grain. She comes up to me and rubs her head on my knee and then I go to town on her. Her eyes close half mast and she leans into me.

The hens. When I go to feed them their grain in the morning they peck at my hands as I pour the grain into the feeders. I give them the scratch grain in the yard to distract them, but one or two or three see me go back into the coop to give them the other type of food. They also peck at my shoes! There might be some chicken stew here soon.

The other night I made a second batch of cheese. This one turned out good. I used a different recipe that called for vinegar not lemon juice to get the curds to separate from the whey. I got maybe two/three cups of cheese? I took it to work and let some people sample it. One patron wants me to make it so that he can buy it from me. I don't think that I will do that. It's raw goat milk cheese. I would hate for him to get ill and then have him be mad at me. I will keep making it for myself and try some other types.

Try. try, try again.

This morning I tried to get Juju on the stand. I led her to the stand, she started to act up. I held on to her collar and I got up on the stand, I started to pull her up and forward, her legs collapsed and she fell over backwards and ended up on her back, wedged between the stand and the wall. (Not good) She then panicked. I got her out, calmed her down. I fed her grain to her in a pan on the stand. It was an udder failure. (Like my pun?)
Tonight I put the grain on the feed box that's on the stand so she had to get close to the stand. We will do this for a while.


The cheese I made last night did not work out. There might be a reason that cheese cloth is called cheese cloth. I did not have any, I used a tea towel. The whey could not drain with the curds. I tossed that out. I then bought some cheese cloth and I'm trying again. This time it's draining, so that is promising.

The farmers market was slow today. It was real windy too. I got a nice wind burn. I did sell some soap so I did make money but most of the people seemed to be just looking. The Amish ladies did well and so did the guy that makes bread.

Who cut the cheese?

You are so wrong! You think that I am talking about bodily functions and I'm not! I'm trying to make goat cheese tonight. I'm making a soft cheese. The recipe is very simple and I just happen to have all the ingredients on hand.

Goat Milk? Check (Goat milk? I have so much goat milk that I have to buy another freezer)
Lemon? Check
Salt? Check

Heat the milk, then take off the heat, add lemon juice and salt. Drain the whey and let it drain overnight. I think that I am going to have a huge failure. The milk did not curdle well, it was a very fine curd. I used a half gallon of milk and maybe (If it works out) I will get a cup of soft cheese? Not a big return.


I started milking Maggie twice a day. I want her milk production to go up. She is not so sure about being milked in the evening. But the carrot chips help.

I have tried to milk Juju again. Just so you know, you can cry over spilled milk. No, I did not have real tears but I was pretty cranky at her. She kicked the milk pail out of my hand. I think that I'm going to go back to the invention of the wheel with her. She had no legs when I tried to get her on the stand in the past. I think that tomorrow morning, after milking Maggi, I will drag Juju up on the stand and shove carrot chips at her and get her used to the stand. Then make my move on her in a week or so and try and milk her. I have lots of time.

Catch up.

My oldest sister made it to my house late Friday night, when I say late, it was after 11:30pm when she pulled into my driveway. The friend that she is helping drive up to AK is 80 years old. He stayed up for about one hour and then went to bed. My sister and I stayed up till about 1.30am and by that time, both of us were yawing so big that we were in danger of sucking in the curtains! We all got up around 7am, they needed to repack the van so they did and they were on the road by 8.45am. I told my sister that next time maybe she could stay a little longer then 10 hours! I was glad that they were able to stop but I sure wish she could have stayed longer. Maybe next time.

I am going to have to look back in the blog and see when the hen went broody. If the eggs are fertilized they should be hatching soon I think. That's why I need to check.

The babies playing with their food. That's Meg on the left
Basil in the back, looking at Meg. Sage in the front also looking at Meg.

Maggie, I'm getting ready to milk her. We are doing much better.

I leave her on the stand when I'm done. I make her stay up there while I feed the chickens.

When done, I give her some dried carrots. Both Juju and Maggie would sell their souls to the devil for carrot chips!

Beauty and the Beast.

My camera is a cheap one. We are having a beautiful sunset and this picture is as good as it will get.

Yep, that's a big fat juicy tick that I pulled of Abby last night. Gives you the willies huh?

What a morning/day I had. I got up and fed and milked goats (Goat) Ran (drove) to the goat ladies house to pick up milk to freeze for soap making. Her house is on the way to work so I was almost in town when I realized that I had passed the road to her house. (grrr) Got to her house and made plans for her to come over and make soap. Got home and was talking to my friend Kellie and the power went out! No power, no soap making, no running water. Cleaned out the garage and raked up the spilled hay that the goats wont eat and put it on the garden. Tried to nap but was not able too. Power came on and about 10 minutes later the goat lady showed up to make soap. She made a batch and I made a batch. She then neutered the baby male goat (Basil) He was rather squirmy but we got it done. He didn't act any different. I'm glad about that.

Got in the shower to get ready to work and it was not till I was blow drying my hair that I realized that I forgot to use shampoo!